After Red Bull won 21 out of 22 races in 2023, many believed that only the regulation changes of 2026 could end the team’s dominance. However, 2024 has turned out to be a very exciting season, with a three-horse Title race potentially brewing up. Max Verstappen is over-delivering, leading the Drivers’ Championship (comfortably for now), but Red Bull as a whole struggles to keep up.
Verstappen knows that he has been doing his job. In an interview with De Telegraaf, he said, “I think I’ve been doing that constantly the last few weeks. That’s fine too, that’s what I get paid for.”
On the other hand, the 26-year-old isn’t delusional. “We have to find more speed to become champions. If you have to drive at 101 percent every time as a driver, things will of course go wrong at some point.”
Max Verstappen on whether he makes the RB20 look better:
“I think I’ve been doing that constantly the last few weeks. That’s fine too, that’s what I get paid for. But ultimately we have to find more speed to become champions.”
“If you have to drive at 101 percent every time as… pic.twitter.com/cECRvPxt5F
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) June 22, 2024
Because of how comfortable Red Bull was in 2023, the development of the RB20 started much earlier compared to when rivals began working on their challengers. Adrian Newey designed the car, which was built on a completely new concept. Still, McLaren and Ferrari seem to have caught up; and are arguably faster around some circuits.
Verstappen hasn’t dropped his level of performance, having won six races so far this season. The same cannot be said about Sergio Perez, who hasn’t been anywhere near the top three lately. For now, it might just be Verstappen’s brilliance that is keeping Red Bull alive in the fight for the Title.
Red Bull is only 49 points ahead of Ferrari heading into the Spanish GP. Their huge lead at the start of the season keeps going down. And McLaren in particular is ramping up its pace, as evidenced by Lando Norris‘ pole position in Barcelona on Saturday.
Christian Horner Hints at Spanish GP advantage for Max Verstappen despite losing Pole to Lando Norris
Norris finished 0.02 seconds ahead of Verstappen to take home the pole position ahead of the Spanish GP. However, Red Bull’s Team Principal Christian Horner remains unworried.
Horner feels that the characteristics of the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona will still favor them on Sunday, and degradation of the tires will be key in deciding the result. Plus, on high-fuel runs, Red Bull was fastest in the free practice sessions.
As such, things don’t look too shabby for Verstappen, who will be looking to make the Championship standings more comfortable for himself and Red Bull with a win.
